Alcohol Production Process
AssigneeLanzatech New Zealand Limited
InventorsSean Dennis Simpson, Joseph Henry Tizard
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Abstract
The invention relates to the production of products such as alcohols and acids by microbial fermentation, particularly microbial fermentation of substrates comprising CO. It more particularly relates to methods and systems for improving efficiency of products by microbial fermentation. In particular embodiments, the invention provides a method of optimising production of desired products including the step of ascertaining the proportion of CO converted to CO2.
Claims16
A method of improving the efficiency of microbial fermentation of a gaseous substrate comprising CO and less than 5% H2, said method comprising:
- a) providing the substrate to a microbial culture to produce products selected from the group consisting of acids, alcohols and mixtures thereof and CO2 as a by-product;
- b) measuring the total amount of CO consumed and the amount of CO2 produced and calculating a ratio of CO2 produced/COconsumed;
- c) adjusting the substrate supply rate to keep the CO2 produced/COconsumed ratio within a predetermined range of a value of the ratio of about 0.5 or about 0.667;
- and d) repeating steps b and c to keep the CO2 produced/COconsumed ratio within the predetermined range.
A method of improving the efficiency of microbial fermentation of a gaseous substrate comprising CO and less than 5% H2, said method comprising:
- a) providing the substrate to a microbial culture to produce products selected from the group consisting of acids, alcohols and mixtures thereof and CO2 as a by-product;
- b) measuring the total amount of CO consumed and the amount of CO2 produced and determining a desired ratio of CO2 produced/COconsumed;
- c) adjusting the substrate supply rate to keep the CO2 produced/COconsumed ratio within a predetermined range of the desired ratio;
- and d) repeating steps (b) and (c) to keep the CO2 produced/COconsumed ratio within the predetermined range.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.